I’m exploring the idea of design as satire and the destruction of the image of luxury.
I thought of today and the overwhelming shift to create luxury experiences i.e. buildings, wellness, and materialism, all while the world around us seems to be on fire.
Even in Leigh-on-Sea, the area of my site, their main street (Broadway), most of the new construction was for multi-family “luxury” rentals.
I wondered if a developer had their way, they’d probably build in the water, which seemed ridiculous, so I figured why not do just that and build in the water?
I was also curious about the paddle pools I saw along the shoreline. I wanted to know why they were there in the first place which led me to learn about lidos and plunge pool’s popularity in the 1930s.
I looked at Busby Berkely’s 1933 film Foot Light Parade for its ornate settings and beautiful geometric choreography. I was also looking into British art that was happening around this time which eventually led me to Gustav Metzger’s Auto Destructive Art in the 1960s. The juxtaposition of something that was made glamorous to cover up reality and then something that was created to expose the trauma reality has caused was the driving force behind the concept.
Thinking about British lidos today, many of them have fallen into disrepair due to high maintenance costs, even the tiny paddle pool on site looked like it had seen better days. this idea of a beautiful pool decaying over time stuck with me.
As a satirical provocation, I wanted to build an outdoor lounge area on the intertidal terrace made up of found material (i.e. mud, seashells, seagrass). The materials would be used in a way so that the tides would eventually destroy them.